SHEPHERD Construction has been awarded a £17 million contract to deliver the first phase of a new campus development on behalf of University College Birmingham (UCB).

Work is scheduled to begin this month on the development which will replace unoccupied buildings and a car park on Charlotte Street and Holland Street, in a conservation area on the edge of the Jewellery Quarter.

Designed over four floors, the new facility will include a dedicated postgraduate centre, teaching spaces including three lecture theatres, a 24-hour study hub and a 200-seater café.